One of the biggest complaints we get at the help desk is that the user’s computer is running slowly. It’s frustrating when your computer can’t even load a webpage or open an app. Especially when your job is performed almost entirely on a computer. When you’re waiting for it to do even basic tasks, it ends up killing your productivity.
Here are some ways you can speed up your PC:
Remove Viruses
One of the biggest reasons a computer slows down is due to viruses and malware on the system. It may not even be obvious malware that pops up in your face constantly. It can be subtle and behind the scenes, making your computer slow without a peep.
The best way to clear them out is to run a virus scan. Sometimes your standard virus protection is unable to detect certain kinds of malware that could slow your system down.
Check with your IT support provider to help you get your system cleared out of any potential threats.
Check Startup Programs
When you install various programs onto your computer, they sometimes add something to help you launch the program faster when you reboot your computer. These are usually referred to as startup items. It loads a portion of a program, so when you go to use that particular program, it loads up much faster.
Most of the time, these startup items are unnecessary. Especially when it’s for an app you don’t use very often. There are some programs, however, that require their startup items to be running in order to work properly.
Be careful when disabling any startup items to make sure you aren’t doing more damage to your computer than necessary.
Add or Replace Hardware
One of our IT managers was using an old computer to run maintenance on a client’s machines. The computer was painfully slow, not letting her applications load enough for her to work with a client. Finally, she realized all the computer needed was more RAM. The device was suddenly so much faster!
It can be as simple as adding RAM to your device or, in extreme cases, replacing your hard drive with a higher speed model.
Perform Maintenance
Sometimes your computer can slow down from overuse. Is the device getting too hot? Is the hard drive too full? Are there too many programs installed?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, you may have to go through the computer manually to uninstall any programs that are unnecessary. You may also have to look through your downloads folder and clean up some hard drive space.
A great program to help you find exactly what is taking up the most space on your computer is TreeSize.TreeSize will find the largest folders and files so you can move them to external storage or delete them.
Make sure you don’t delete anything that you don’t understand or know exactly what it is. It could be important! Contact your IT provider to make sure you don’t delete anything important or if you need to recover any deleted files.
Performing these tasks can breathe new life into your aging computer but use them wisely. Never perform any tasks that you don’t fully understand.
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